


Brothers of Chaos

by EvelynMichelle



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hulk - Freeform, Hulk Needs a Hug, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki/hulk friendship, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Statesman, The hulk isn't an idiot, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Thor doesn't understand PTSD, Thor just wants to fight alongside his brother, but he does his best, chaotic neutral bros, he's trying very hard to not smash, is that so much to ask?, smashing stuff with your best friend.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24764635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvelynMichelle/pseuds/EvelynMichelle
Summary: The first time the Hulk rages on the Statesman Loki is terrified.The second time he falls in love.And surprisingly, no one dies.Because how is it possible that the God of Mischief and a giant rage monster are on the same ship and not the very best of friends.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This absolutely should have been in the movies. So I'm fixing that obvious error on Marvel's part.

The first major disaster on the Statesman wasn’t even Loki’s fault. Which meant Thor owed Heimdall thirty bucks and was pretty pissed about it.

He should have known better than to bet against Heimdall.

The Statesman shook and people screamed, Heimdall and Loki worked to get everyone out as far and as fast as they could. Once upon a time, Thor had thought Asgard might be the only civilization in the world that could handle the Hulk. A warrior culture with advanced sciences and magic where the people didn’t break under a single punch.

Once upon a time, he’d been right.

“Seriously, big guy. I need you to calm down.” Thor tried. Talking with the giant rage monster had never worked before, but the Hulk had been so much more reasonable lately that Thor’d almost forgotten that he could go out of control.

“What’s going on?” Valkyrie yelled from across the room trying desperately to keep her friend focused on her and Thor rather than the few remaining civilians and the very fragile machinery that was the only thing between them and an endless black frozen nothing.

“He does this sometimes. Try to calm him down.” The Hulk and Valkyrie were friends, maybe she could do the sun thing.

“He didn’t do this on Sakaar.”

“Everyone loved him on Sakaar, and they wouldn’t have given a shit if he had.” 

Thor punched the Hulk in the gut, putting as much electricity into the hit as he could. The Hulk retaliated by grabbing his face and throwing him into the hull, denting it. 

“You know, this is why people avoid you.”

He got screamed at for that as well as another punch his direction. Thor blocked it as best he could, no doubt dislocating something in the process, terrified that that hull wouldn’t take another hit without throwing them all into space. He didn’t bother to hide his pained cry. The Hulk went in for another hit and Thor found himself on the other side of the room.

The hull as it turned out was tougher than he thought, just barely.

“You’re welcome.” It was Loki his voice strained and tense.

“Shouldn’t teleport on moving surfaces.” He gave a strained cry as Loki popped his arm back in place.

“Short distances are fine.”

The Hulk screamed as he focused more on Valkyrie again, her sword doing nothing to his thick skin.

“We can lock the room down.” 

Thor got to his feet testing his arm. It hurt like hell but he could move it. “Do it.”

“You have to get out.”

“No, I have to-”

“He’s going to get you thrown out of the ship.”

“We’ll survive, but I’m not sure he can. I have to at least try to calm him down.” Thor looked at Loki. His brother was terrified in a way Thor hadn’t seen since they’d hung off the Bifrost together before he decided to let go. 

Had the Hulk hurt him that much? Loki had been relatively fine when they’d found him after they’d cleaned up New York, but Thor wasn’t sure how long it had taken for him to get to that state. Judging by how he looked now, he had to guess a while.

“Help me!” Valkyrie cried, swearing at them.

“Lock down the room and stop the ship. If we get pulled out into space you can drag us back in.” Thor didn’t stick around to see him nod before leaping onto the Hulk’s neck, distracting him a little but accomplishing nothing of value.

Valkyrie tried again with the sword. She wasn’t even wearing armor, just her Sakaar leathers. Thor only had the one outfit, but at least it had a chest plate.

“What’s he doing?”

“Locking down the ship. Keep him from killing everyone.” He said just in time for the Hulk to grab him and smash him against the floor. There was a room below them, hopefully, Loki had the sense to lock it down too.

“Oh, good idea.”

“Ow, seriously big guy. You’re being a bad friend again.”

“Thor not friend!” The Hulk screamed in his face and moved for another punch still holding Thor down. Oh good, he’d figured out how to converse and try to kill him all at the same time… Joy.

“Clearly.” Thor again blocked the punch while Valkyrie’s latest attempt to stab him ended in a very bent sword.

Thor couldn’t get unpinned. One of the Hulk’s legs crushed his ankle and one arm held his still throbbing shoulder down, it was all Thor could do to block with his one remaining arm. He barely heard the sirens of the room locking down over the thudding of heart in his ears. Valkyrie had moved onto unarmed combat, but it wasn’t her strong suit and he heard her vow to always carry a gun from then on. He didn’t bother telling her it wouldn’t have helped.

“Get off me!” Thor tried desperately to remove the arm on his shoulder but only managed to give his opponent an opening to clock him in the face. Then he tried electrifying the Hulk which managed to stun him but didn’t force him to let go. 

The relief on his shoulder when Valkyrie finally pried the beast off him was enough to bring tears to his eyes, even the empty one answering a question he’d had about his father since childhood. So that was nice. 

Thor pulled himself up carefully, his right arm might be dislocated again and his left was broken in a couple of places. His ankle was in agony, but he pushed himself to his feet anyway.

“Thanks,” he said nodding at Valkyrie and swaying a little.

“Not me,” she huffed.

Thor turned and saw Loki shaking like a leaf with magic in his hands his eyes never leaving the Hulk. Thor double checked and the room had indeed locked down, though whether Loki had gotten someone else to do it or done it himself and teleported back in was unclear.

What mattered was that Loki had come back.

Terrified as hell, he’d still come back.

The Hulk roared at him and Loki did a sort of mix between a scream and an oh-god-help-me and ran closing the distance between him and Thor. 

Thor would rather he ran in the opposite direction, but he couldn't fault his brother for that. He readied himself for the Hulk’s charge, electrifying himself like a Christmas tree and met his crazed friend with a fist in the face as Loki ran behind him. His arm screamed in protest, but at least the Hulk felt it this time.

“What’s calmed him down in the past?” Loki asked and Thor could hear him trying to keep his fear out of his voice, probably for Valkyrie’s sake.

“Natasha.”

Somewhere Valkyrie got an energy gun. Maybe Loki had it?

“Romanoff?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Loki swore and tried desperately to stay as far away from the Hulk as he could while Thor and Valkyrie kept its attention. Loki’s knives were useless unless he aimed for the eyes and since they weren’t trying to disfigure Banner that was probably best avoided. His shields were like Valhalla come early though.

The Hulk pounded on one separating him from Valkyrie as she was free to shoot through it. The gun did more than her sword had, but still not much. Thor distracted him before he could break through with another punch to the gut. He hated only having one arm available.

“How does Romanoff calm him down?” Loki asked quiet enough that Thor barely heard him, trying to avoid the Hulk’s attention.

“Uh, she has this thing she does with his hand…” he tried dodging a swing and wishing Loki would stop distracting him. “It’s no use, I tried doing it at Sakaar.”

Loki used another wave of magic to throw the Hulk into the shield he’d put around the hull to prevent further damage.

Thor had forgotten how good Loki was at thinking during combat. He'd forgotten about the ship’s damage after the Hulk had pinned him. 

God, he’d missed battling with his brother at his back.

“I need specifics, Thor.”

“Huh?” given a second to breathe his wounds were catching up to him as well as his brain.

Oh, shit… illusions. Would that work? It couldn’t touch him, but maybe it would distract him enough to calm the big guy down.

“Uh… Val, can you distract him for a sec?”

“No!” Thor ignored her and ran for Loki.

“I’ll show you,” he said and pointed at his head. Loki didn’t hesitate to grab his forehead and force him into a flashback of the last time he’d seen Natasha power down the Hulk. 

He might be the only person that’s actually offered to let Loki read his mind. Maybe it was stupid because Loki could pull out any memory he wanted and Thor couldn’t do a thing to stop him, but it was faster and his past told him he could trust Loki to only look at what was important even if his present called him an idiot for it.

“If she touches him it might not work.”

“Just a recording managed to pull out Banner back on Sakaar. You might not even need to do the thing.”

Loki nodded, frightened but determined. 

“Thor!” Valkyrie called as the Hulk grabbed her and pinned her to Loki’s shield, screaming in her face.

“Hey, big guy.” A calm familiar voice rang out loud and clear, echoing against the walls. The Hulk dropped Valkyrie and turned around looking directly at Natasha. Completely stunned. It looked perfect as all Loki’s illusions did, though Loki had only met her the once.

Thor motioned a stand down command when Valkyrie moved to take advantage of the distraction. She looked confused but stayed where she was.

The Hulk gave a half-hearted snarl at the illusion and took a step back. Natasha didn’t approach, raising her hand slowly. Loki moved too, even slower, trying very hard not to be noticed, approaching like he was walking to the gallows.

“Sun’s getting real low.” She said with a bit of a laugh. The Hulk stepped forwards as though not in control, he was trying to not look at her. Trying to stay angry.

“Yeah, I know,” she said softly. “I miss you too.”

The Hulk started shaking, roaring again, but Thor could see his anger was gone.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be home soon.”

The Hulk took another step forward, reaching for her hand. Just before he could touch her and realize she wasn’t real Loki reached him and as inconspicuously as possible touched his temple with a shaking hand.

The Hulk froze for a moment before dropping to Loki’s feet, twitching until it was Banner laying there, not the Hulk.

“I-” Loki choked no longer masking his terror even slightly. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Loki dropped into a dead faint and all Thor could do was hobble over to them both.

“Did he just save us and then pass out without even getting injured?” Valkyrie looked like she was breathing for the first time she was concentrating so hard on it.

“Yes, yes he did.”

“Guess I can’t blame him too much for being a pussy,” she said between breaths. Her tone stated that she did blame him at least a little, but Thor was too thankful that Loki had stuck around to help that he couldn’t fault him for anything at the moment.

If Loki could force the Hulk back into Bruce their whole journey just got significantly less dangerous.

“Loki’s not great at fighting anything he can’t stab.”

She chuckled and the tell-tale noise of the lockdown being lifted rang in his ear. Heimdall’d noticed the fight was over. What little was left of the male Asgardian population ran in with weapons drawn no doubt having been standing vigil in case the monster managed to break through the doors. 

All of Loki’s shields and Natasha’s illusion had fallen when Loki did leaving an empty room with just four people a broken sword and a really big gun to tell the story of their glorious victory.

—

Bruce woke up before Loki, ridiculously thankful to be himself.

“I thought I’d never come back,” he told Thor, covering his lower half with the blanket the healing room bed had provided.

They called it a healing room but it was just a room they’d crammed every bed they could find on this awful ship into and took people when they’re injured or ill. There was a storage space for the few medical supplies the Asgardians had managed to stuff in their pockets before going into hiding with Heimdall. Most of it had come from Loki’s pocket dimension strangely enough. Almost as though he walked around expecting to end up with a sword through his chest. 

Maybe that’s what life on Sakaar had been like when you weren’t a slave. Walking around with every poison antidote you could find and way too many bandages stuffed in your back pocket. He’d regretted suggesting Loki stay there as he watched his brother pull it all out.

“Loki managed to force the transformation,” Thor told him forcing away that memory. Brothers were hard work.

Banner looked over Thor at where Loki lay clearly surprised.

“He can do that?”

“I think he was just as surprised as I was.” Thor smiled rolling his shoulder. His ankle would take another day to heal but his broken arm was starting to get some movement back. “He rigged up an illusion of Natasha and used some magic once she calmed him. I think he was just trying to knock him out but you switched back instead.”

“Huh, Is he… okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah. He didn’t get hurt. Just fainted.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“Does it?”

Banner blinked at him for a moment holding the blanket tighter.

“Well I mean, the other guy roughed him up pretty badly in New York. And most people are terrified of him so…”

“Loki’s been beaten before.” Thor shook his head, “Hel, I’ve beaten him up before. We used to train together.”

“Not like that.”

Thor looked at him and sighed leaning back on his cot. “One time when we were younger, probably fifteen or so by Midgardian standards, he and I were captured while we quested for a mythical stone. The strange creatures, I never learned what they were though Loki probably knows, singled him out as the weaker of us. Most of our enemies did, actually. Anyway, they tortured him, the All-speak didn’t know their language so we never even found out what they wanted. Do you know what he did when I finally broke us out of there?”

“Was he as crazy then as he is now?”

“He criticized their technique.” Thor watched his expression, as a warrior culture Asgard was no stranger to torture. Their soldiers trained to withstand it. As princes, they had as well, in case they were taken hostage to use against their king or kingdom. But Midgard wasn’t a warrior culture and Banner was no warrior, even if he hid one under his skin. He wasn’t sure how his friend would view that aspect of their history.

“Yes, yes he was. Good to know.” Banner nodded but seemed to understand the point in the story. “Torture is different though. Not better by any means, definitely not but I don’t think… The other guy smashed him, hard. Sudden, unexpected, and fast. He was in the middle of a sentence and suddenly Tony’s got to replace that whole section of flooring. I’ve seen you guys fight. You’re built like tanks, even him.” Banner pointed a thumb at Loki.

“If he’s afraid of the other guy, I think if anything it was the suddenness of how fast he went down that’s the problem. Because it was fast, and blunt force doesn’t usually do that much to you all. If you met a guy that could kick your ass in five seconds you’d be scared too.”

“My brother-”

“I’m not exaggerating, Thor.” Banner interrupted a rare thing for him. Though Thor figured it was a survival technique when you spend a significant amount of time with Tony Stark. “Tony thought it was hilarious and put it on loop when he found the security footage. Clint timed it. Enough blunt force trauma in five seconds to take down someone who used to train with you.”

Thor stared, “that’s not possible.”

“Exactly.”

Finally, Thor looked at his brother and remembered how fast he’d run when he realized he’d had the Hulk’s full attention. He tried to imagine a fight lasting only five seconds wherein he was the loser. 

“Okay, less amusing than I’d pictured it then.”

“Yeah.”

“He did it though,” Thor said with a smile growing on his face. “He didn’t have too. He could have left and let space finish the fight for us when the big guy inevitably broke open the side of the ship. But he didn’t he faced him and won.”

Let Volstagg call him a coward now.

Was it wrong to be vindicated on your brother’s behalf over your dead best friends? Probably, but there was a reason he hadn’t taken his friends on his quest after his brother’s death and it wasn’t for their safety. He’d never really gotten over just how fast Sif and the Warriors had turned on Loki the first time he took the throne. And part of him still wondered if Loki would have never turned on him, never felt such need to prove himself, never… fallen if their friends hadn’t been so quick to choose one brother over the other.

But this wasn’t the time or place for thoughts like that. They were dead, and Loki wasn’t, and Thor’s heart had little room left for sorrow. Perhaps the universe had answered that question for him.

“Please tell me someone hit me.” Loki groaned beside him. Thor saw him cover his eyes with his arm refusing to look at either of them.

“Nope,” Thor laughed at Loki’s expense only because Loki expected him too.

“Great. No doubt the harpy’s told the whole ship by now.”

“Val was just thankful to not be injured enough that she couldn’t drink. I doubt she said anything.”

Loki gave him a look that told him exactly where he could shove that optimism.

Thor wondered if he should say something, about how well he’d fought or how clever the illusion was, or maybe an apology for doubting his brother’s courage. Would Loki accept the complements as they were or search for hidden meaning? Take the apology at face value or use it as an excuse to belittle himself again.

In the end, he chose none of it.

“It was nice fighting beside you again, brother. It’s been too long.”

Loki looked at him. His hands steady now as he rose from the cot.

“I— Yes. I agree.”

Maybe it was a terrible thing for a king to think, but at that moment he was sure he could watch the universe burn to keep his brother right by his side.


	2. Chapter 2

The second time the Hulk went on a rampage on the statesman it was entirely Thor's fault. And Loki made sure he knew it.

“I didn’t mean too!” Thor whined as he threw one of the dining tables at his giant green friend. It broke in half but Loki could fix it later… probably.

“You didn’t mean too? What the Hell were you expecting to happen?!” Loki screamed back very much hiding. He’d already tried the Natasha illusion twice. The big guy was too pissed to even notice her.

“I forgot!”

“You forgot your mortal friend turns into a giant monster????” 

“Yes.”

“HOW!”

At least this time they were in the middle of the ship. Less chance of killing everyone. Unfortunately, they didn’t have Valkyrie around to distract the Hulk for them. Since Loki was squishy and terrified that left Thor with the big guy’s full attention. Yay.

The Hulk stomped the table into shards, Loki couldn’t fix that.

“We don’t have furniture to spare, Banner!” Thor yelled throwing a punch that the Hulk didn’t even have the decency to reel from.

“NOT BANNER!”

“Stop making it madder!”

“Will you shut up and help me?” Thor yelled back receiving a body slam for his momentary distraction. It hurt worse with the broken table underneath him. 

“I am,” Loki growled throwing up a shield to prove his point. The room began to lock down without Thor’s permission. A good idea, but he’d hoped for a little more help. Heimdall was loyal to Asgard first and the king second, unfortunately, so it was just going to be the two of them.

That hadn’t happened in a while. The part of him that wasn’t cringing at the injuries he’d end up with was excited by the prospect. The fight to steal the airship had been far too easy for him to enjoy it and he’d spent the whole time expecting Loki to turn on him in the end, sullying the victory. 

If they didn’t die he was going to enjoy this more than he should.

He kicked one of the Hulk’s legs out from under him and Loki attempted to wrap him in the metal plating of the floor. He broke through with an enraged scream and bolted towards Loki. 

Thor swore as Loki dived out of the way his scream slightly less embarrassing than last time but still really sad. The dent in the wall when the big guy pulled himself out of it was spectacular. Thor positioned himself between his friend and his brother.

“No. Bad Hulk,” Thor scolded like he was talking to Loki when he shapeshifted into something small and cute. “You can hit me. Leave him alone.”

“Please,” Loki squeaked from behind him.

The Hulk screamed at them and attempted a tackle. Thor barely dodged, Loki was already on the other side of the room.

“Any bright ideas, brother?” Thor called pulling himself out of his dodge unfortunately landing on table shards again. He’d be pulling out splinters for a week.

“He keeps trying to murder Romanoff,” Loki yelled back making an illusion of Thor as a temporary distraction. It was weird seeing himself running around and he couldn’t help but wince when the Hulk pounced on it. He used the opportunity to deliver a heavy, electrical kick to the head. The big guy looked dizzy for a moment but shook it off before Thor could take advantage.

“Then try something else.”

“Oh sure, Thor. I’ll just do that.” Loki sneered.

“You’re the smart one.” Thor stood his ground at the next charge wincing at how much it would hurt before it even connected but using the Hulk’s momentum to make sure his next punch hurt like Hell.

“Yes, I am.” Loki, mercifully, put up a shield just in time to ensure it wasn’t his shoulder that stopped the beast’s momentum and still gave Thor the perfect shot. The Hulk went flying leaving another dent in a wall. Maybe Loki could fix that too? Thor wasn’t sure.

“Then think of something, smart guy.”

The Hulk pulled himself out of the wall and grabbed a table of his own.

“Don’t you dare,” Thor growled and charged himself. At this rate, his people would be stuck eating off the floor. As if moral couldn’t get any worse. 

He realized his mistake when the Hulk backhanded him with said table. More splinters… perfect.

Loki laughed at him and Thor considered charging him with treason… again.

“Maybe if we just wear him out…”

“His stamina’s better than mine, Loki.”

“Damn. Well maybe if I could get close I could trap him in an illusion.” Loki threw a knife into the big guy’s wrist. It didn’t stick, though Loki threw it hard enough to splinter a tree. The Hulk’s skin was just too thick for blades of any kind. 

It did manage to make the big guy drop the table, which was no doubt the goal, so Thor didn’t complain.

“One of those ones that stop them from moving?” Thor asked hitting the floor and creating an electric field The Hulk was stunned for about three seconds, not as satisfying as he’d been hoping for.

“Yeah, but I have to touch him.”

No doubt the Hulk was far more satisfied by his retribution as he grabbed Thor and threw him at the ground in a wide arc.

Thor groaned and forced himself into a painful roll as the Hulk followed it up, smashing his fist into the floor deep enough to break into the room below.

“That would require you to stop sniveling in the corner.” He stood as the Hulk wrenched his hand out of the floor his back cracking in all the worst ways.

“Pass.”

“Loki!”

“I’ll never get close enough without him killing me. I promised to stick around, I never promised to die for you.” Loki sneered pulling at the Hulk’s leg with his magic, not quite strong enough to pull him to the ground but it did trip him up and make him miss an attempt to smash Thor.

“You didn’t mind last time.” Thor grabbed at the Hulk’s neck and filled him full of electricity until the big guy managed to hit him hard enough to send him flying again. At least this time he landed on his feet.

“Yeah, and you left me in the middle of a god-forsaken planet!”

“You were dead!”

“At least grab the body!” Loki swore at him throwing another knife, not at the Hulk but at the light fixture above the big guy, sending it crashing on his head.

“I had other problems.”

Loki swore at him again, it really wasn’t a proper way to talk to his king. They’d had discussions about it but expecting Loki to show respect for anything was like hoping for the Aesir on this ship to stop complaining.

“I can get you close,” Thor said kicking a counter across the floor and sending it skidding into the big guy’s legs. Food went everywhere which considering their low stores probably wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had. They’d been trying to keep Banner away from the food he’d interrupted the occupants of the ship from eating peacefully.

“What? How?” Loki asked as Thor started running towards him before the big guy could pull himself back onto his feet. “No. Don’t you dare.” He backed up when Thor reached him. “Thor, I swear to god, if you throw me at him-”

Thor threw Loki at him just as the Hulk stood, knocking him right back down. It was better than breaking another table, at least.

Despite his protest, Loki recovered quickly. Swearing vengeance at Thor as he threw a hand onto the Hulk’s forehead and holding it there as though he expected to be backhanded at any time. 

The Hulk didn’t move. Didn’t change back to Banner either. He just lay there, twitching.

Both brothers sighed in relief simultaneously. 

“How long does that last?” Thor asked, his hands on his knees, catching his breath as Loki tenderly backed away from the monster on the floor. He wasn’t shaking as bad as last time and didn’t seem likely to faint, so that was progress. 

“About four hours, unless I release him.”

“Then we’re just stalling.”

“No,” Loki shook his head. “He’ll exhaust himself before then. He’s still rampaging, it’s just all in his head.”

“Shouldn’t condition him to be okay with throwing a fit on this ship.”

“He’s not on the ship. I’m not completely stupid, Thor.”

Thor nodded, “where is he?”

“New York. Only human city I know. It’s empty though. He’s just damaging buildings, not people, might be good for him actually. Let out his rage with no consequences. Used to do it to myself when we were younger. Kept me from murdering you some days.”

Thor gave a winded laugh and straightened up a hand supporting his back. “You put yourself in an illusion so you could carelessly destroy stuff… why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“It would have surprised you back then,” Loki muttered, cautiously approaching the Hulk and examining him.

Thor couldn’t deny that, though he wished he could. He hadn’t known his brother nearly as much as he’d thought back then. Hadn’t known that underneath the petty mischief hid a genuine god of chaos.

“Can you see what he sees?” Thor asked, curious at how deliberately his brother was staring down the giant rage monster.

“Yes. The destruction is spectacular. I should have brainwashed him, not Barton,” Loki said with a cheeky grin, unrepentant as ever.

“Oh god. You two are not allowed to be friends. Ever. Midgard will never survive.” 

Thor couldn’t help but smile at the resulting laughter. 

“If we could teach him to recognize his anger before it turns into rage perhaps I could preemptively cast the spell on him. Let him work it out safely.”

“I don’t know if that’s even possible.”

“Can’t hurt to try. We’d have to leave him in this shape though his mental capacity stagnates while in the background.”

“Banner won’t like that.”

“Banner’s not here.” Loki’s eyes had a spark to them to match his grin and he nodded at the beast below them. “He’s just toppled Stark Tower. You know I’m quite enjoying this.”

“I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

—

Loki determined the Hulk safe enough to be released from his spell before the four hours were up, even the Hulk couldn’t fight for that long. Thor had assumed releasing him would just trigger a whole new rampage. Finding themselves suddenly in a new place would be disorienting for anyone.

But the big guy seemed calmed.

He looked around childishly his eyes landing on a very nervous Loki.

“Feel better?” Loki asked his arms crossed and his body tense. He’d made sure to place himself right beside Thor before releasing the spell. Thor didn’t let how pleased that made him show because Loki would have taken it back. Loki was beginning to trust him again, and he was foolishly trusting Loki back. It was a success even if a worrying one.

“Smash city,” the Hulk said, confused and scratching his head. Still looking around as though trying to find the city.

“Yes. It was quite a show. I haven’t been more entertained in centuries. Thank you.”

“No people?” He asked, looking a little ashamed, surprising Thor. Since when has the Hulk been aware enough to realize the cost of the damage he caused. Was it Johannesburg? Had he had time to notice the fear his rampage had caused? Was that why he thought Earth hated him?

“No people. Wasn’t even real. But it certainly was fun.”

“Puny god use magic. Hulk smash, hurt nobody?”

“Indeed,” Loki took a tentative step forward. “Well, you managed to rough up Thor a bit, but he needed the exercise.”

“Thor not matter.”

“Hey now.”

“Agreed,” Loki ignored Thor’s protest and reached a hand to the Hulk. “A deal then. You warn me before going out of control, and I’ll make sure you don’t kill anyone. I can promise nothing if you don’t warn me in advance.”

Hulk looked suspicious for a moment before nodding once, he didn’t take the hand. “Hulk will.”


	3. Chapter 3

The Hulk didn’t warn them.

Not the next time he got angry, or the time after that. And Thor quickly dropped the idea of a preemptive illusion and instead focused on response time. Get to the Hulk, get everyone out, get Loki as close as possible without getting his brother murdered. He left all the anger management training to Loki, which was a terrible idea considering how often Loki’s attempts at anger management left Thor with stab wounds but what else was he going to do? He didn’t have time to potty train a giant rage monster.

Thor was pretty sure there was an Earth saying, something like the third time always works out, that applied here. And he had the pleasure of witnessing the very first time the Hulk was self-aware enough to anticipate a rampage.

Loki was casually reading a book, where he’d gotten the book Thor didn’t know. Maybe Loki had a whole library hidden somewhere, that would be nice, he’d wondered how much of their culture they were going to lose in their relocation but if Loki had books stashed away than at least some of it might be safe.

He also realized he hadn’t seen his brother reading in literal years and it had become an oddly unfamiliar sight. That bothered him more than he liked. As children whenever he wanted to find his brother he always went straight to a library. Whether at home or during their travels if there was a library around you could count on Loki to be there.

Now, though, Thor kept looking up and pushing down the sense of unease he felt at seeing Loki so still. Though at least his brother had decided to sit upsidown on the bench. So that was something of a relief to his nerves.

It was a peaceful sight regardless and Thor was content to sit there in silence as he examined star charts and plotted possible pit stops for their spacecraft.

So naturally, it was interrupted by the door being kicked down in a fit of rage and a familiar growl.

Instinctively, Loki freaked. His posture, however, didn’t support his immediate desire to hide leading to him falling off the bench right onto his head. He didn’t drop the book though, no doubt valuing it more than his own wellbeing now that it was probably one of a kind.

Thor stood preparing himself for a fight. The room was too small for a proper Hulk fight but at least there weren’t any of the ship’s vital structures to destroy.

He was surprised, however, when the Hulk ignored him turning instead to the god on the floor. Loki quickly hid the book in his pocket dimension.

Definitely valued that book more than himself, Thor wondered if they should have another talk about that.

“Hulk mad!” The big guy huffed.

“Wha?” Loki said and Thor nearly laughed at his inelegance, it didn’t happen often so he shouldn’t pass up the opportunity, but this wasn’t the time or place for teasing.

“Puny god say he help when Hulk get mad.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Loki rose to his feet looking just as surprised as Thor felt. He approached slowly, his fear had been slowly burning away as he encountered the big guy more and more and never with such disastrous results as the first time but here it came back in full force. 

Usually, someone was distracting the Hulk as Loki approached, now he had the big guy’s full attention. The Hulk seemed to realize he scared Loki and didn’t move as the much smaller person approached, once again surprising Thor with how self-aware he was becoming.

Thor didn’t move either. He wasn’t sure which one he was more worried about frightening but he watched with increasing apprehension as the Hulk bent down so Loki could touch his forehead.

He didn’t drop to the ground like Thor had been expecting, but rather just stood there in a daze. Loki backed up faster than he needed to, nervously watching in case Hulk’s willingness to be put under the spell made it possible for him to break out. But after a moment of tense staring, they both relaxed, almost at the same time.

“I didn’t think…” Loki trailed off choosing his words properly. “I didn’t think he’d manage it.”

“I didn’t either.”

Thor wondered if Loki would go back to his book if left alone, but figured the peaceful moment was probably ruined and he wasn’t likely to get it back.

“Where’s he this time?” He asked out of curiosity rolling up his charts and maps carefully.

“Huh? Oh, Asgard.” 

Thor looked at him entirely uncomfortable with the mental picture that inspired.

“The Valkyrie told me he’d wanted to fight Surtur. So now he is.”

That brought out a laugh, of course, Loki would sick the Hulk on a giant fire demon. After all, he got to watch the whole thing.

“Let me know who wins?”

“Very well. I’m betting on the Hulk.” Loki smiled at him with mischief in his eye.

“I’ll take that bet.”

“A poor decision, brother. You should know better than to bet against me.”

“Eh, I think the planet-sized fire giant has pretty safe odds,” Thor said stowing the charts away with a shrug.

“You realize I can still manipulate the outcome… right?”

Thor blinked at him and the swore.

—

The Hulk didn’t always manage to catch himself before becoming dangerous, but it happened more and more often. As the Hulk grew self-aware Loki grew less afraid. Loki showed the Hulk all kinds of things while the Hulk destroyed it all. Jotenheim was Loki’s favorite, which bothered Thor more than a little as he was hoping his brother had grown past that hatred, but there were other places too. The mines of Niflheim, the ruins in Alfheim, places Thor and Loki had adventured as children and even a few places Thor had never seen. Loki showed the Hulk the branches of Yggdrasil itself and was content to watch the beast tear it to pieces. He mentioned showing the Hulk a Titan’s ship once but denied it when Thor asked what he was talking about later.

The Hulk didn’t even need to be angry to request what he came to call dreams. Sometimes he was just bored. Usually, that’s when Loki showed up in these dreams. Sometimes sparring with his new friend other times just destroying stuff together to let off some steam. 

Thor never saw a bit of it but he saw the effect.

Asgard’s savior was turning out to be surprisingly vital to its continued survival, between keeping the Hulk’s fits to a minimum Loki was managing to improve morale as well. Little touches here or there that improved everyone’s mood by small degrees. Figuring out how the ship’s radio worked so there was background music echoing down the halls, small harmless pranks (usually at Thor’s expense) that cheered up everyone around, telling the most ridiculous stories that no one ever believed and everyone enjoyed poking fun at even after it was finished, turning into small animals to entertain the children.

It wasn’t something Thor would have expected Loki to take a shine to, but Heimdall had laughed at him when he mentioned it. 

“Loki’s reign resulted in more theaters built than Asgard has constructed in its entire existence.” Heimdall had explained. “He enjoys entertaining.”

“Yes, but why all of the sudden? He never bothered before.”

“He never felt needed before.”

He wasn’t sure he understood at the time, but as he watched his brother converse with the Hulk without a hint of anxiety later he thought he might. Loki didn’t try because he thought it best if everyone forgot he was there. He was the impostor king who usurped the throne after all. But since he was genuinely able to help in a way no one else could, he didn’t need to hide himself away.

And the god of mischief had always been good at making people laugh.

So it was a cycle. The Hulk made Loki feel useful and Loki cheered everyone up. An Asgard with high moral was less likely to piss off the Hulk making the Hulk happy too. Loki may very well have become the only person in the universe who genuinely liked the Hulk better than Banner. And that alone ensured that the Hulk liked him back.

He hated to admit it but they brought out the best in each other. 

Didn’t make any of their interactions any less terrifying though.

Later, much later, when the Hulk grew angry again he would ask Thor where his puny god was. He’d grown intelligent enough to understand why the question made his friend start crying. And the Hulk would go on the biggest rampage the Avengers had ever seen and still he managed to hurt no one.

Because the Earth had become like one of their shared dreams.

Empty.


End file.
